The Baseline’s Eric Freeman has a theory as to shy this year’s dunk contest was so terrible. Instead of placing all the blame for the horrible contest on the dunkers, Freeman is of the belief that uncontested dunks themselves are no longer all that impressive to fans:

“Aerial artists have become so talented that what was once incredible is now commonplace. When Isaiah Rider pulled off the through-the-legs “East Bay Funk Dunk” in 1994, the entire arena exploded, and Charles Barkley called it the best dunk he’d ever seen. On Saturday, DeMar DeRozan executed a more difficult version of the same dunk and received a score of 42. The problem isn’t that dunkers are worse — it’s that we’ve already seen most every kind of dunk that can be done. The only things left are a flip, or a windmill with each hand at the same time, or jumping through a ring of fire like the Suns’ Gorilla. We are jaded viewers.”

Freeman goes onto make other interesting points, like that Brown rose to prominence through dunking on people, and that the play that leads to the dunk is often more impressive to current NBA fans than the dunk itself.

I agree with much of Freeman’s premise, but do think it’s a little early to call the dunk contest dead two contests removed from one of the best contests in recent memory. This year’s Dunk Contest was the perfect storm of crappy dunks. Gerald Wallace openly didn’t want to be competing. Shannon Brown was powerless to stop the hype that surrounded him, and opened with dunks he was using in the high school dunk contest seven years ago. DeRozan is a great leaper, but is a little to smooth for his dunks to have that “pop” to them. (Compare the sheer force of DeMar’s between-the-legs jam to that of Vince Carter’s, or even Gerald Green’s.) Finally, after so many contests, Nate Robinson was clearly out of dunks. Spud Webb telling Nate that Spud didn’t want to see props used was a “be careful what you wish for” moment of the weekend, right up there with when Usher stopped lip-syncing.

Future dunk contests might not have the same magic as the ones Dr. J, Dominique, Michael, or even Vince participated in. However, that doesn’t mean it’s time to give up on the dunk contest. As recently as 2008, Dwight Howard revitalized the contest through dunks of insane difficulty (the switch-handed off-glass self-oop in the finals) and creativity (the Superman dunk, a masterful combination of theatrics and sleight-of-hand.)

Taurian Fontenette, who can perform a 720 dunk, participated in the amateur dunk contest on Friday night. James White is still out there somewhere, waiting to fulfill his dunk contest destiny. There will always be a better dunk. The NBA just has to get players who want to look for it.

Paul George and Russell Westbrook — now with Carmelo Anthony — form one of the more interesting teams in the NBA in Oklahoma City. Deep with quality role players and a defense that should be top 10 (if not top 5) in the league, if the three big names can learn to sacrifice and mesh, the Thunder will be dangerous.

Paul George sounds motivated to take it all on… which he should be the first day of training camp. Still, it’s a good sign for Thunder fans.

“I took it as it was a kick in the behind, like, ‘Go ahead and go try to beat the Warriors. Go play alongside Russ and get your butt kicked against the Warriors.’ That’s how I looked at how that trade went down, because honestly we had no idea OKC was even interested or was in the trade until the trade actually happened. But again, I’m not here to trash Indiana. They have some of the best people I’ve ever met in their front office and in that organization. I grew up there. I could go on and on (with) the positives in Indiana, but that’s where my thought process and my – that’s where I, I guess, my opportunity to leave had opened up.”

There was some “go ahead and beat the Warriors” in that trade — it looks, from the outside, like the Pacers did not want George to land anywhere he wanted to go.

Thing is, as human beings, we by our nature try to make the best of situations. Even people who suffer genuine personal tragedies often come out the other side saying that it changed who they were for the better and they are happy with their new life. This is just basketball. George will adapt — and he’s on a very good team. If the bar is “can they beat a healthy Warriors team in a series” then the Thunder will fall short, as will every other team. But the Thunder are on that next tier in the NBA and could be a threat.

Plus, competitors like George always look at a trade as a challenge.

It’s going to be a fascinating season for the Thunder. We’ll see if all that talent is willing to make the sacrifices needed to win at the highest levels of the NBA.

When the Chicago Bulls traded Jimmy Butler — finally making a decision on the franchise’s direction — one of the centerpieces they got back from Minnesota was Zach LaVine. The wildly athletic two-guard had evolved into more than just a dunker, averaging 18.9 points per game and shooting 38 percent from three — he had become a legitimate scoring threat against any defense.

Then he blew out his ACL.

How that injury impacts his game remains to be seen… so when will the Bulls see him on the court? Coach Fred Hoiberg addressed that as Chicago started training camp, as reported by Vincent Goodwill of CSNChicago.

Although Zach LaVine's numbers are ahead of schedule, Bulls don't expect him to practice with contact until mid-November

That’s just taking contact in practice. The Bulls will be cautious bringing back a guy they see as part of their future, so expect this to be closer to Thanksgiving or the end of the month before he plays. Which is the smart move to make.

Even then, ACL injuries take a long time to overcome, even for young players putting in the recovery work. It may be next season before we know if LaVine will continue on the trajectory he was on in Minnesota.

“Only time I am going to concern myself with what [Lonzo] does off the court is if it is affecting his play on the court,” Johnson said at the Lakers’ media day when asked about Ball’s reality Facebook series, “Ball in the Family.”

“Right now, I think it is awesome,” Johnson said. “His family is great. They came out Saturday, we had a big Laker picnic. … His dad is wonderful with me, and I am cool with him. … I think [Lonzo] is tired of all this [hype]. He is just like me; I just want to play and I think he wants to play, and then Saturday night [for the Lakers’ preseason opener], sold out, in Anaheim, wow!”

It’s Magic’s job to put a positive spin on things.

That said, he’s right. The Lakers (and every NBA team) have dealt with overinvolved parents before and know how to create some space for the player to focus on the game. Locker rooms have a way of sorting themselves out in these kinds of situations. Plus, the Lakers have been down the reality show road before (when Lamar Odom married Khloe Kardashian), and while that had an ugly ending, it wasn’t for lack of Lakers’ players and others in the organization trying to step in and help. (Odom just wasn’t yet in a place to accept help.)

Soon LaVar will be focused on his other sons and Lonzo, who appears practiced at tuning his father out and focusing on what is in front of him, will have the grind of the NBA schedule to worry about.

The recruitment of major college athletes — and then the steering of the handful that get to go pro to shoe companies and agents — is a sleazy business. It makes HBO’s “The Duece” look like Disneyland. It’s something sports fans know but largely turn a blind eye to until it forces its way into the headlines.

Former NBA Rookie of the Year Chuck Person, now an assistant coach at Auburn, was among those named in the scandal.

Person is making headlines because he’s the biggest name in the scandal. He is charged with accepting approximately $91,500 from a business manager, who has flipped and is working with prosecutors. This “business manager, offered bribes to Person to steer players toward his services, as well as another person charged in the scandal.

Person told prosecutors he gave $18,500 of the money he took to two players’ families, according to the filings.

Person was the No. 4 pick in the 1986 NBA draft and went on to win Rookie of the Year, followed by a 13-year NBA career. He made $22.9 million over the course of his career.